Hand-manipulated, particle-removing device for aquariums

ABSTRACT

An elongated tubular body terminating in a nozzle at its lower end, an air outlet at its upper end, and an elongated lateral opening therein; a tube for compressed air substantially coextensive with said body and having its lower air-discharging end opening into the body adjacent the nozzle thereof; a longitudinal adjustable sleeve on the body provided with a downwardly directed tubular extension in communication with the mentioned lateral opening in the body for discharging water-borne particles received from the nozzle end thereof when immersed in the water of an aquarium, the discharged air entering the body and, in the form of bubbles, percolating upwardly through the water in said body and, finally, venting from the upper end of the body; a longitudinally adjustable scraper fitting on the nozzle end of the body for loosening accumulations of matter desired to be removed so particles thereof are buoyed upwardly and into the influence of the upwardly percolating air bubbles and carried thereby toward the mentioned downwardly directed extension, and a filter bag on the end of said extension to receive and pass water entering the same while intercepting particles of matter entering therein.

United States Patent 727,459 3/1955 GreatBritain Primary Examiner-Reuben Friedman Assistant Examiner-Charles N. Hart Attorney- Hyman Jackman ABSTRACT: An elongated tubular body terminating in a nozzle at its lower end, an air outlet at its upper end, and an elongated lateral opening therein; a tube for compressed air substantially coextensive with said body and having its lower airdischarging end opening into the body adjacent the nozzle thereof; a longitudinal adjustable sleeve on the body provided with a downwardly directed tubular extension in communication with the mentioned lateral opening in the body for discharging water-borne particles received from the nozzle end thereof when immersed in the water of an aquarium, the discharged air entering the body and, in the form of bubbles, percolating upwardly through the water in said body and, finally, venting from the upper end of the body; a longitudinally adjustable scraper fitting on the nozzle end of the body for loosening accumulations of matter desired to be removed so particles thereof are buoyed upwardly and into the influence of the upwardly percolating air bubbles and carried thereby toward the mentioned downwardly directed extension, and a filter bag on the end of said extension to receive and pass water entering the same while intercepting particles of matter entering therein.

PATENTED M02819?! 1N VENTOIL TIMOTHY 5. JOHNSTON ATTORNEY HAND-MANIPULATED, PARTICLE-REMOVING DEVICE FOR AQUARIUMS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The removal, from the water of household aquariums, of the waste matter of denizens occupying said water and simultaneously aerating said water.

2. Description of the Prior Art Cleaning aquariums and similar tank bottoms by means of compressed air is known, such devices using compressed air for the purpose of removing particles of matter and floating them upwardly with the air bubbles created in the aquarium water. Such known devices, whether permanently affixed to or hung on an aquarium wall, are stationary and, in the main, depend on the convection type of movement of the water to convey the particles of matter into the sphere of influence of the air bubbles percolating toward the surface of the tank.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A hand-manipulated device for removing from aquariums, the waste matter of the denizens occupying such aquariums comprising, generally, an elongated and preferably cylindrically tubular body 10, a tube 11 for conducting a compressed gas, as air, for discharge into the hollow of said body adjacent to the lower end thereof, a sleevelike member 12 longitudinally adjustable along the body 10 and provided with an angularly and downwardly directed tubular projection 13 extending from an intermediate portion of said body, filter means 14 removably connected to said projection 13, and a slidably adjustable scraper fitting 15 mounted on the lower end of the body 10. This invention has for its objects to provide an easily handleable and easily stored device for effecting the aquarium cleaning operations as characterized hereinabove.

This invention also has for its objects to provide such means that are positive in operation, convenient in use, easily installed in a working position and easily disconnected therefrom, economical of manufacture, relatively simple, and of general superiority and serviceability.

The invention also comprises novel details of construction and novel combinations and arrangements of parts, which will more fully appear in the course of the following description, which is based on the accompanying drawing. However, said drawing merely shows, and the following specification merely describes, one embodiment of the present invention, which is given by way of illustration or example only.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is an elevational view showing the present device in operative position.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the upper portion of said device.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view as taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view similar to FIG. 2, with the parts in a different position.

FIG. 5 is an elevational view of the lower portion of the present device.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the portion of the device that is shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is an end detail view of a water inlet nozzle provided in the device.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The device that is illustrated comprises, generally, a body 10 which is provided at its lower end with a generally flattened nozzle 20 which has a widened form larger than the diametral size of the remainder of the body which is preferably round in section. The upper end of the body is open. Spaced abutments 21 and 22 on said body are provided on beyond the ends of an elongated port 23 in the wall of said body.

The tube II, preferably of plastic, has an upper end adapted to be connected to a source of compressed air, as by a flexible tube 24. The tube 11 preferably extends alongside the body 10 on the side thereof opposite to the port 23 and may be cemented in place so the body 10 and tube 11 comprise a unitary, easily handled and manipulated item. The lower end of said tube, as best seen in FIG. 6, is directed to open into the interior of the body 10 adjacent to the nozzle 20.

The member 12 is formed as a sleeve 25 having a longitudinal slit 26. Said sleeve has a sliding fit on the body 10, between the abutments 21 and 22, the tube 11 being disposed in the slit 26 and serving to key the member 12 against rotation relative to the body. Said sleeve is substantially shorter than the distance between the abutments 21 and 22. The relationship between the length of the port, the distance between the abutments 21 and 22, and the length of the sleeve 25 being such that when the member 12 is slid to engage either of said abutments, said port remains covered.

The tubular projection 13 is located between the ends of sleeve 25 so the same, in all positions of longitudinal adjustment of the member 12, is open to the mentioned port 23, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6. An annular shoulder 27 is provided on the projection 13, the discharge end 28 is formed to allow for unrestricted flow into the filter means 14.

Said latter means is here shown as a porous bag 29 that may be connected to the projection 13 and held in place by the shoulder 27. The bag 29 may be lined with a refining material, as fullers earth, if desired.

The scraper fitting 15 is shown as a sleeve part 30, having a cross-sectional form similar to that of the sleeve 25, and slidingly engaged with the body 10 between the abutment 22 and the nozzle 12. As with said sleeve 25, said part 30 is retained against rotative movement relative to the body 119 by the tube 11. Said fitting 15, extending from the part 30, is provided with a flattened blade 31 that may extend variously below the nozzle 12 according to the longitudinally adjusted position of the scraper fitting. It will be noted from FIG. 1 that the lower edge 32 of blade 31 is adapted to engage the aquarium bottom 33, to, thereby, space the nozzle 12 above said bottom according to the mentioned adjustment of the fitting 15. In cases where the aquarium bottom 33 is provided with a layer of sand 34, said blade may be used to penetrate said layer and, by manipulation of the device, scatter the grains of sand comprising the latter and, in the process dislodge accumulations of waste matter in said bed.

The arrow 35 suggests the type of sand-dislodging movement that may be employed, and the arrows 36 indicate the upwardly buoyed movement of such dislodged matter toward the nozzle 12, the buoyancy of said particles of matter in the water 37 of the aquarium, brings the same into the influence of the upwardly percolating air bubbles that are generated by the compressed air forced into the interior of the body 10.

Operation After the fitting 15 has been adjusted to space the blade edge 32 from the nozzle 20, as desired-a shorter distance when there is no sand layer 30 on the aquarium bottom 33, or a larger distance according to the depth of said layer, and the member 12 is adjusted along the body so the projection 13 is substantially immersed when the blade edge 32 is in contact with the bottom 32 or layer 34. The latter adjustment may be approximate but should be such that the water level 38 in the body which is the level of the aquarium water 37, shall be above the level at which said water will enter the extension 13.

The device is held by its upper end and moved through various vertical and slightly angled positions as the blade 31 scrapes the bottom 33, or flicks portions of the bed to loosen and dislodge particles of matter as hereinabove explained. During such manipulation the flow from the interior of the body into the extension 13 may not be a continuous one but will depend on the vertical or angled disposition of the device. In any case, as shown in FIG. 2, as the rising air bubbles in the Hui body reach the variable level 38, the water at that level will spill over into the extension 13 carrying the particles of matter that were released by the bubbles as the same break through said surface 38. The air thus released will vent through the upper end of the body and the water, bearing the released particles of matter will discharge into the filter means 14, the water passing through said means to return to the tank and the particles being intercepted by said means, as is common in such type of separation.

While the foregoing has illustrated and described what is now contemplated to be the best mode of carrying out the invention, the construction is, of course, subject to modification without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A particle-removing device for aquariums comprising:

an elongated, tubular body open at both ends, one end constituting an air vent and the other, when immersed in the water of an aquarium, constituting an inlet nozzle for water from the bottom of the aquarium,

a tube to conduct compressed air to the interior of said body adjacent to said inlet noule to produce air bubbles that munication, through said elongated port, with the interior of the body and receiving particle-containing water from the interior of the body,

two longitudinally spaced abutments on said body, the spacing therebetween being greater than the length of the port, whereby the interior of the body and the downwardly directed extension are in communication in all adjusted positions along the body between the abutments, and

filter means connected to the outlet end of the tubular extension to allow water to pass therethrough and intercept particles in said water.

2. A particle-removing device according to claim 1 in which the inlet nozzle has a flattened form and in which the end of the compressed air tube enters the interior of the body spaced from the flattened noule.

3. A particle-removing device according to claim 1 provided with a longitudinally adjustable fitting for scraping foreign accumulations from the bottom of the aquarium.

4, A particle-removing device according to claim 3 in which said fitting is formed to have a bottom-scraping and sanddislodging blade, whereby particles loosened by the blade are buoyed by the aquarium water to move into the influence of the compressed air entering the body and to be caught up in bubbles formed by said compressed air rising toward the mentioned downwardly directed extension.

5. A particle-removing device according to claim 4 in which the blade of the mentioned fitting when fully retracted, extends beyond the nozzle of the body, thereby the blade at all times spaces the nozzle from the aquarium bottom. 

1. A particle-removing device for aquariums comprising: an elongated, tubular body open at both ends, one end constituting an air vent and the other, when immersed in the water of an aquarium, constituting an inlet nozzle for water from the bottom of the aquarium, a tube to conduct compressed air to the interior of said body adjacent to said inlet nozzle to produce air bubbles that percolate upwardly in said water in the body interior and carry foreign particles in said water, an elongated port in the wall of said elongated body, a sleevelike member slidably adjustably mounted on said body and provided with a downwardly directed tubular extension, said member being formed with a longitudinal slit in which the mentioned compressed air tube is disposed to retain the body and said member relatively nonrotational, the downwardly directed tubular extension being in communication, through said elongated port, with the interior of the body and receiving particle-containing water from the interior of the body, two longitudinally spaced abutments on said body, the spacing therebetween being greater than the length of the port, whereby the interior of the body and the downwardly directed extension are in communication in all adjusted positions along the body between the abutments, and filter means connected to the outlet end of the tubular extension to allow water to pass therethrough and intercept particles in said water.
 2. A particle-removing device according to claim 1 in which the inlet nozzle has a flattened form and in which the end of the compressed air tube enters the interior of the body spaced from the flattened nozzle.
 3. A particle-removing device according to claim 1 provided with a longitudinally adjustable fitting for scraping foreign accumulations from the bottom of the aquarium.
 4. A particle-removing device according to claim 3 in which said fitting is formed to have a bottom-scraping and sand-dislodging blade, whereby particles loosened by the blade are buoyed by the aquarium water to move into the influence of the compressed air entering the body and to be caught up in bubbles formed by said compressed air rising toward the mentioned downwardly directed extension.
 5. A particle-removing device according to claim 4 in which the blade of the mentioned fitting when fully retracted, extends beyond the nozzle of the body, thereby, the blade at all times spaces the nozzle from the aquarium bottom. 